Accident & Emergency (A&E)
Accident & Emergency (A&E)
Active research collaboration with the A&E Department at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, is currently focussed on reducing the risk of serious injury of victims in road traffic accidents (RTA) by simulating an accident within the facilities at IMAR and in reducing instances of injury caused when using domestic trampolines.
In RTA, one of the most important jobs of the paramedics is to immobilise victims and extricate them from vehicles with minimum movement to the head and neck, otherwise serious injury leading to paralysis may occur. Movement of simulated victims from a car is tracked by special high-tech 3D infra-red cameras evaluating various techniques for quick and safe extrication.
A recent increase in injured children using domestic trampolines has led to a joint collaborative initiative between IMAR and A&E to develop a computer based biomechanical model to investigate the causes of injury. The resulting simulation demonstrated that when two masses bounce out of phase on a trampoline, a transfer of kinetic energy from the larger mass (parent) to the lower mass (child) is likely to occur. This transfer of energy is associated with forces large enough to break bones.
